Vote: Who should be SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week (2/19/2024)?
Here are the candidates for SBLive’s Nebraska high school athlete of the week for Feb. 12-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote. Voting will conclude Sunday at 11:59 p.m. If you would like to make a nomination in a future week, email athleteoftheweek@scorebooklive.com.
Editor’s Note: Our Athlete of the Week feature and corresponding poll is intended to be fun, and we do not set limits on how many times a fan can vote during the competition. However, we do not allow votes that are generated by script, macro or other automated means. Athletes who receive votes generated by script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified.
Madison Abbenhaus, Bloomfield Girls Basketball
Abbenhaus was an AOTW nominee several weeks ago when she scored 33 points. It was the third time she had eclipsed 30 points during a dynamic senior season. The Bloomfield guard was back at the 30-point mark during a game Feb. 12 against Creighton. She was coming off a 25-point game four nights earlier also against Creighton and increased her total to 13 games with more than 20 points. Abbenhaus is averaging 21.5 points per game and among the top 10 in Nebraska for scoring average.
Shyanne Anderson, Cross County Girls Basketball
How does a veteran player continue to create points on a tough scoring night? For Anderson, it was at the free-throw line where she went 11 of 12 and scored 23 points while leading the Cougars to a subdistrict win. Anderson was just 5 of 13 from the floor but still led all players in scoring thanks to her work at the line. She had her touch back two nights later and scored 24 while going 7 for 11 from the floor. Anderson was good again from the line, hitting 7 of 10. The senior is 82% from the line this season, making 80 of 98.
Tera Boyer, Plainview Girls Basketball
Boyer and the Pirates need wins if they have plans on making a district final and playing for the state tournament. Plainview hopes got off to a good start Feb. 13 during a win over Chambers/Wheeler Central, and Boyer was a big reason why. The senior scored a career-high 27 points, was almost perfect shooting at 13 of 16, hit just her third three of the season and grabbed seven rebounds. Boyer had 11 points two nights later for her fifth straight game with double-digit points and the Pirates won again to qualify for the district final.
Madalyn Dolliver, Pender Girls Basketball
It was the type of night dreams are made of for everyone on the Pender roster, but especially for Dolliver. Pender scored 97 points on Feb. 13 in a subdistrict win over Lyons-Decatur Northeast, the roster made a record 23 three-pointers on 41 attempts and Dolliver had 13 of those on her own. The records set weren’t only school records. Pender set an all-class mark with the team total and Dolliver set a state record by going 13 of 23. The Pender sophomore has 96 threes this season and is shooting 45% from long range.
Claire Korth, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family Girls Basketball
Korth was an effective scorer all over the floor during a Feb. 12 win for HLHF over Twin River. The Bulldog junior scored 25 and shot 7 of 15 overall, hit two threes, was 50% from inside the arc and was a perfect 9 for 9 at the free throw line. She also pulled down seven rebounds and handed out three assists. Korth has three games with more than 20 points this season including 32 in a Jan. 16 game against Wisner-Pilger.
Ann Marie Meiman, Omaha North Girls Wrestling
Meiman was one of the surprises at last weekend’s state tournament. The North senior came in as a two-time state medalist, but in the 135-pound bracket she would have to eventually go through back-to-back champion Alexis Pehrson of Skutt. Pehrson eventually showed up face-to-face with Meiman in the final. But despite Pehrson’s experience and quality, Meiman led most the match, including midway through the third 4-3 when she came up with a takedown to seal it. Meiman finished off a 41-1 year with the victory and earned her first state title.
Maycee Peacher, Bennington Girls Wrestling
Peacher was looking at her historic run coming to an end on Saturday in the girls 115-pound championship. She hadn’t found any offense during six minutes of the final and was forced into overtime. Once there she had one of the most dramatic takedowns of the day, putting her opponent to the mat with 24 seconds left in the extra period before finishing it off with a pin. The win made Peacher 22-1 on the year and made her one of the first girls to win three titles in Nebraska history. Peacher won 110 pounds last year at 46-0 and took the 100-pound title as a freshman at 34-1
Jocelyn Prado, Johnson County Central Girls Wrestling
Prado became a back-to-back state champion on Saturday in her third straight state title match. The Johnson County junior made it two titles in a row and completed a perfect 49-0 season with a second-period pinfall in the girls 100-pound championship. Prado pinned her first two opponents then won 8-2 in the semis to get back to the final for a third straight year. She was 29-4 last year on her way to a title and 30-7 as a freshman when she finished as a runner-up. Prado can become just the third ever three-time girls champ if she can get back to the top of the podium next February.
Regan Rosseter, Westside Girls Wrestling
Rosseter put together one of the most dominant seasons any Nebraska wrestler has ever had, male or female. The Westside senior capped off a 48-0 year on Saturday afternoon with a 9-4 decision win in the girls 130-pound state championship and became the one of the first three-time champs in Nebraska girls history. Rosseter had three pins on her way to the title and was part of a Warrior girls team that helped deliver Westside the team title. She was 27-1 a year ago when she also won the 130-pound title and 42-0 as a sophomore when she took the 126 championship.
Sophia Shultz, Raymond Central Girls Wrestling
Shultz leaves high school with just one state title but can rightly claim status as one of the best girls to ever do it. During the first year of sanctioned girls wrestling, she remained with the boys and made the state tournament. She was a runner-up a year ago and capped a 44-4 year with the silver medal. She came back this year and put together a 35-0 mark while winning the 110-pound championship. Shultz pinned three of her four state opponents while winning in the semifinals 8-6.
A’mare Bynum, Omaha Bryan Boys Basketball
Bynum has never been better than in a Feb. 13 win over Gretna East. For a guy who’s rated as a top 150 recruit in the nation, and who averages 21 points per game, that’s saying something. But while Bynum has had a lot of big games, the win over Gretna East included a new career-high scoring title of 36 points. Bynum shot 15 of 19 in the victory, hit 5 of 7 from three-point range and was one rebound away from a double-double. It was the 14th time this year he scored more than 20 and the second time he’s had more than 30.
Robbie Fisher, Crofton/Bloomfield Boys Wrestling
Fisher is a four-time state qualifier who’s basically been untouchable since he took fifth at state as a freshman. He came back to Omaha as a sophomore with a 41-1 record and took the Class C 106-pound title with three pins and a 7-2 semifinal win. As a junior, he went back-to-back and finished 42-1 with two pins, a 19-6 major then a 4-2 gold medal victory. Fisher became a legend Saturday as a three-peat winner who closed his career 46-1 with a 12-6 victory, 10-2 major, semifinal pinfall and a close 3-2 win for gold.
Braden Frager, Lincoln Southwest Boys Basketball
Southwest has started to pick up some momentum as the schedule moves towards the postseason. Not surprisingly, Frager’s level of play has corresponded with team success. The Husker recruit is averaging over 21 points per game over the past seven games and helped deliver a 6-1 record. Thursday against Kearney, Frager scored a career-high 39 points, shot 15 of 25 and grabbed seven rebounds. It was the second straight game he had more than 30 following 33 and 11 rebounds five days earlier against North Star.
Chance Houser, Scottsbluff Boys Wrestling
Houser is a back-to-back state title finalist, coming up short at 113 pounds as a sophomore and 120 as a junior. He wasn’t particularly close in either, suffering a pin as a sophomore and a 9-0 major decision loss as a junior. But Houser didn’t let that deter him during a senior season that saw him go 30-4 before coming to Omaha. This time, Houser gave himself a happy ending with two pinfalls, a 10-7 win and a dramatic 3-2 win in the semifinals.
Jakob Kavan, Aquinas Catholic Boys Wrestling
Kavan was in the middle of one of the most tortured careers until he finally came through on the biggest stage Saturday in Omaha. The Aquinas senior wrestled for titles as a freshman, sophomore and junior but had to watch each time as the other guy had his hand raised. Yet, even with all that heartbreak, Kavan kept getting back up and going to work. His work this season produced a 44-1 mark before taking a 1 seed to Omaha. He capitalized on one more shot at state with two pins and a tech fall before finally claiming the gold medal in the Class D 144-pound weight class by controlling a 6-2 decision.
Kyler Lauridsen, Bennington Boys Wrestling
Imagine having the pressure of coming back to state as two-time champ looking for a third with an unbeaten mark. Now also imagine your older brother having set the standard with four state titles. That was the strain Lauridsen was under looking to go three-for-three and set the stage for next year and match the accomplishments of older brother Kale. So far so good. Kyler won his third straight championship and finished 55-0 for the Class B 150-pound title while earning two pins, a technical fall and a dramatic 1-0 win in the championship match.
Jesse Mauch, North Platte Boys Basketball
Mauch has 64 three-pointers and is better than 40% from the perimeter. Those sharpshooting skills were never on better display than in Friday’s win over Lexington. Mauch hit nine times from downtown, scored 31 points and led the Bulldogs to their fifth win in a row. It was the fifth game in a row Mauch made three or more three-pointers. Mauch’s season includes two games with five threes and one each with six, seven, eight and nine makes from beyond the arc.
Owen Trofholz, Conestoga Boys Basketball
Trofholz had his moments as a freshman but was an irregular point scorer during his rookie season. Now into his second year of varsity play, the Conestoga forward has 10 games with 20 or more points and is averaging nearly 18 each time he steps on the floor. In a win Feb. 13 over Nebraska City he had his best performance of his young career and scored 32 points. He had a tough night from the perimeter, shooting 1 of 7, but was 9 of 12 from the free throw line and 10 of 16 from inside the arc.
Abdi Unle, Omaha Bryan Boys Wrestling
Unle is part of quite the renaissance of boys wrestling at Bryan High School. The sophomore won 50 games before he arrived at state then dominated the Class A 113-pound bracket for a state title. Unle won in the first round by pinfall, did it again in the quarterfinals with a second-period pin, advanced to the final on another pin 20 seconds into the third then stuck his finals foe with 22 ticks remaining in the first period. Unle became the first Bryan boys champion in 24 years.
Riggs Wilson, Weeping Water Boys Basketball
Weeping Water had lost three games in a row and four of five. The Indians were in need of a spark. Wilson created that spark and quickly expanded it into a full-on blaze with back-to-back games of more than 20 points and back-to-back Weeping Water victories on Feb. 12 and Feb. 16. Wilson hit 45% in both games, sank a total of nine three-pointers and posted totals of 25 points against Cornerstone Christian and 29 against Diller-Odell.
--Nathan Charles I @SBLiveNeb
